October-November Expenses

I'm a hardworking high school teacher who is seeking financial independence.  It might not be the most glamorous or even high paying job but it's what I do.  I track my expenses down to my last yen every month to keep me on track.  Without tracking my expenses I would have absolutely no idea where I stand financially.  Like a sailor at sea, Excel is my sea chart keeping me heading in the right direction.

I receive payment from my job on the 15th of every month so I track my expenses paycheck to paycheck.  This post is for the period October 15th to November 14th.  Let's get started.

Income
Paycheck:  ¥301,911 ($3801)
Transportation Expense:  ¥30,240 ($380)
Part Time Job:  ¥16,294  ($205)
Halloween Party:  ¥10,000  ($125)
English Test Interview:  ¥27,000  ($340)
Total: ¥383,527  ($4829)

Income needs a bit of elaboration this month.  I get my regular paycheck and every six months I get a transportation expense for the train.  However because I am now riding a bike I don't buy a train pass anymore and that money goes into my pocket.  I also work a part time job which brings in a bit of extra cash.  This month I was also asked to help with an English Halloween party for some kids.  It was fun and rather stress free.  Not exactly my favorite way to spend a Sunday but if it get's me closer to my goal I'll sacrifice one Sunday for 40 years of Sundays.  Last but not least there is a national English test given three times a year in Japan.  I am very lucky to be one of the interviewers for the test and we get paid a nice wage for one days work. 

Income for this month was the third highest for the year only falling behind April and July.  Actually April was more of a fluke because my school changed pension systems so my pension wasn't withdrawn that month.  July was the highest as I sold A LOT of stuff that I had just sitting in boxes at my parents place.  I worked pretty hard this last month to get such a high wage.  I don't mind working so hard with the high exchange rate right now but I do look forward to winter vacation where I can take a week or so off.

Expenses for this month were higher than usual.

My expenses totaled ¥171,638 ($2161) according to this chart above.  This is only my Japanese expenses and I also help to pay for a house back in the US.  It's not so much but adding in ¥18,451 ($230) my total expenses were ¥190,089 ($2393) for October to November. 

Obviously the big expense that sticks out here is the medical.  I had to pay for the remaining part of a dentist bill.  I hope this will be that last of these large dental bills.  I have paid about ¥200,000 over the last two years on my teeth.  I've said it before that I don't mind spending this kind of money because I knew it was coming and I didn't take care of my teeth for a long part of my life.  I hope that from here on out, however, this is not more then ¥10,000 a year for regular checkups. 

I bought some fenders for my bike but this a very low month for bike expenditures.  I am looking at pouring a bit more money into this area for a nice rack and I haven't quite decided on panniers or a trailer.  I'm leaning towards a trailer but in the end I will probably end up with both.  I want high quality stuff in this area so that I can always resell it if I find I like one over the other.  A trailer would really help with trips to Costco!

After crunching all the numbers I am left with a *drum roll!!!* 50.44% savings rate for the month.  This brings my average for the year to 45%.  This is well below my target of 65% but I am starting to think that perhaps my target was too ambitious.  I had stated before that I wanted to end the year with at least a 50% savings rate but I'm not sure if I'll hit that either.  Christmas is coming up and as much as I have convinced most of my family we don't need to do much gift giving I still make a nice photo album that costs me about $120-$150 to cover the whole family.  Also, I have a GF who I want to buy some presents for and a few friends who can't seem go give up the tradition. 

In the end I won't know until January 14th just how close I will be to my goal.  I'm either going to need to start playing better offense (ie working more at the PT job or hiring myself out free lance for private English lessons) or better defense.  An even better option would be both.